American Independent Film

AMERICAN INDEPENDENT FILM
A LOOKS COLLECTION BY ERIC ESCOBAR Thanks so much for buying my collection of Magic Bullet Looks. This is the first in what I hope will become an on-going series of original Looks. The inspiration of this collection is, you guessed it, American Independent Filmmaking, specifically films made in the last decade. The last ten years of indie filmmaking in America has beendominated by both the quirky, “heart-felt” comedy and the serious, “heart-felt” drama. A personal, emotional search for authenticity has been the zeitgeist. In the movie-tech realm, itʼs been a decade that has seen the transition from film to digital HD video for image acquisition, as well as the end of the traditional lab “color timing” to the rise of the DI (digital intermediate) process of computerbased color manipulation. It has been a weird time for cameras and coloring. Film purists have been afraid to let go of how things have been done; while newbies shoot badly lit video and drop garish pixel smashing plug-ins on their movies. Everyone is still kind of freaked out about it all. Color grading in Magic Bullet Looks is a process of artful destruction. The more processes you pile on toyour image, the less of your original image remains. But thatʼs a fine thing to do. Coloring, to me, is about deciding what parts of your imagesʼ tonal and color range are essential, and what parts are superfluous. Color is visceral. I think of coloring as editing the hue and tone of the raw image to reveal the emotion of the frame. My goal has been to balance that emotion while minimizing process --preserving what the story needs. Each family of Looks helps tell a common story that you will make unique when you add it to your image. Some of these looks are complicated, some are really simple. Please use them as a jumping off point to create your own. This collection of Looks if for your next festival submission. So crank up the Sufjan Stevens, or Arcade Fire, and get that pot of Fair Tradecoffee brewing. Deadlines are looming, better hurry up. Best of Luck, Eric Escobar prepshootpost.blogspot.com

MODESTO MOTEL

EXT. DAY -

FIRE ESCAPE BALCONY

ORIGINAL
Meet Annie - She will be your leading lady for this guide. In the download package youʼll find source footage starring Annie Pautsch, our actress/ model extraordinaire. Use this footage as you experiment with the Looks. Ilit it, shot it and color balanced it nice and evenly so that you can have a chance to play around with what the Looks are doing to the footage without having to worry about doing a primary color pass on it all. My basic philosophy is that color grading and look creation begin with the script and end in Magic Bullet. Despite the name, no plug-in can actually do “magic” with badly lit, poorly shotfootage. Youʼll get out what you put in, so remember when youʼre shooting, “feed the plug-ins!” This first set of Looks are for Exterior Day footage. This doesnʼt mean you canʼt run them on all types of footage, but they are designed for material that is brightly lit and can smoosh you underlit interior. Just a warning.

MODESTO MOTEL

Ironic Sunshine

IRONIC SUNSHINE
Why is it ironic?Because the sun never shines in your urban existence. Thereʼre two speeds in your relationship drama - hooking up and breaking up. This is as happy as it gets.

YEAH. SHE DUMPED ME.
Really, this relationship was just a time-killer before the inevitable, right? Turn on the Elliott Smith, feel bad for a while then go out there and meet someone new. Or get drunk and call her up. Itʼs your movie.MODESTO MOTEL

REMENTO
Gratuitous use of the Swing-Tilt effect -- a nice way to let everyone know that this isnʼt happening right now, rather itʼs from way back in your past of three months ago.

FADE INTO YOU
Wouldnʼt it be great to just shoot this thing through coffee grounds, and then run it, one frame at a time, through a late 90ʼs color copy machine? Process is art.

MODESTO MOTEL...